Low flow infusion pump startup

ABSTRACT

A peristaltic infusion pump with improved low flow performance. The pump includes a cam shaft having cams offset in an axial direction, pump fingers that engage a tube, each finger coupled to a respective cam, the fingers creating a pumping region and an occlusion region within the tube, a motor coupled to the cam shaft, a memory, and a controller. The controller implements cam rotation instructions received from the memory to cause the pump to position the fingers in the occlusion region prior to beginning an infusion therapy to deliver fluid to patient through the tube at a patient fluid delivery rate, rotate the cam shaft to transition the fingers from the occlusion region to the pumping region at a startup rate that is faster than a patient fluid delivery rate, and rotate the cam shaft at the patient fluid delivery rate in the pumping region.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure is related to infusion pumps and, moreparticularly, to a startup routine for an infusion pump having improvedlow flow characteristics.

BACKGROUND

Infusion pumps deliver controlled doses of fluids such as medications,analgesics, and nutrition to patients. Infusion pumps are particularlywell suited to delivering controlled doses of fluids over long periodsof time, e.g., several hours or days. While many infusion pumps aredesigned for bedside use, there are ambulatory versions available.Ambulatory infusion pumps allow a patient to move around while theinfusion pump is in use.

Syringe pumps and peristaltic pumps are two conventional types ofinfusion pumps. A syringe pump depresses a cylinder within a syringe todeliver fluid from the syringe to a patient. A peristaltic pump acts ona tube to control the rate of fluid flow through the tube from a bottleor bag of fluid to a patient. Precise delivery of fluids is desirable tooptimize treatment of a patient as there are many fluids where smallvariations can be critical. It can be difficult to achieve precisedelivery of fluids at low flow rates with peristaltic pumps.

SUMMARY

Examples described herein are directed to methods and peristalticinfusion pumps for delivering fluids to a patient. The peristalticinfusion pump includes a cam shaft having a plurality of cams offsetfrom one another in an axial direction, a plurality of pump fingersconfigured to engage a tube received by the peristaltic infusion pump,each pump finger coupled to a respective one of the plurality of cams,the plurality of pump fingers creating a pumping region and an occlusionregion within the received tube, a motor coupled to the cam shaft, themotor configured to rotate the cam shaft, a memory, a controller coupledto the memory and the motor. The controller implements cam rotationinstructions received from the memory to cause the peristaltic infusionpump to position the plurality of pump fingers in the occlusion regionprior to beginning an infusion therapy to deliver fluid to patientthrough the tube at a patient fluid delivery rate, rotate the cam shaftto transition the plurality of pump fingers from the occlusion region tothe pumping region at a startup rate that is faster than a patient fluiddelivery rate, and rotate the cam shaft at the patient fluid deliveryrate in the pumping region.

DRAWINGS

The drawing figures depict multiple views of one or moreimplementations, by way of example only, not by way of limitations. Inthe figures, like reference numerals refer to the same or similarelements. The same numeral is used to represent the same or similarelement across the multiple views. If multiple elements of the same orsimilar type are present, a letter may be used to distinguish betweenthe multiple elements. When the multiple elements are referred tocollectively or a non-specific one of the multiple elements is beingreferenced, the letter designation may be dropped.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example ambulatory infusion pump.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an example cassette with a free flowprevention clam for use with the ambulatory pump of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the pump of FIG. 1A illustratingcams that engage the free flow prevention clamp when the cassette iscoupled to the pump.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are cutaway views of the pump illustrating pump fingersand cams for moving the pump fingers of the ambulatory pump of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the cams on a cam shaft of theambulatory pump of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a schematic end view of the cams on the cam shaft depictingtheir offset in an axial direction.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the peristaltic pump within the ambulatoryinfusion pump with the pump fingers of the ambulatory infusion pump inan occluded region of a fluid delivery cycle.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the peristaltic pump within the ambulatoryinfusion pump with the pump fingers of the ambulatory infusion pump in apumping region of the fluid delivery cycle.

FIG. 10 is a graph depicting an amount of fluid dispensed versus camshaft position for the ambulatory pump of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart depicting a startup routine for use with theambulatory pump of FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram illustrating a general-purposecomputer hardware platform configured to implement the functionalexamples described with respect to FIGS. 1-11.

FIG. 13 is another functional block diagram illustrating ageneral-purpose computer hardware platform configured to implement thefunctional examples described with respect to FIGS. 1-11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding ofthe relevant teachings. However, it should be apparent to those skilledin the art that the present teachings may be practiced without suchdetails. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components,and circuitry have been described at a relatively high-level, withoutdetail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the presentteachings.

FIG. 1 depicts an example ambulatory pump 100 and FIG. 2 depicts anexample cassette 102 for use with the ambulatory pump 100. Theambulatory pump 100 includes a receptacle 104 configured to receive thecassette 102. A peristaltic pump 106 within the receptacle 104 acts upona tube 108 extending through a channel within the cassette 102 to pumpfluid from a fluid container (e.g., a bag or a bottle; not shown) into apatient. An example free flow prevention clamp 110 is positioned withinthe cassette 102 to allow fluid flow through the tube 108 when thecassette is coupled to the ambulatory pump 100 within the receptacle 104(during which time the peristaltic pump 106 controls fluid flow throughthe tube 108) and to selectively cut off fluid flow through the tube 108when the cassette 102 is not coupled to the ambulatory pump 100 in orderto prevent unintentional fluid flow through the tube (e.g., free flow).

The ambulatory pump 100 includes a user interface for interacting withthe ambulatory pump 100. The illustrated user interface includes adisplay (which may be a touchscreen) and buttons. A user controlsoperation of the ambulatory pump 100 via the user interface. The pump100 additionally includes a housing for containing and supporting thecomponents of the ambulatory pump 100 such as the peristaltic pump 106,electronics, and power supplies.

The free flow prevention clamp 110 includes a first elongate section 112a, a second elongate section 112 b, and a clamping section 112 c. Thehousing of the cassette 102 supports the free flow prevention clamp 110.The clamping section 112 is positioned within the cassette geometry suchthat, when the cassette 102 is received within the receptacle 104 of theambulatory pump 100, the clamping section 112 c extends across thechannel receiving the tube 108. The housing of the cassette 102 may berigid plastic or other material capable of supporting the tube 108 andfree flow prevention clamp 110.

The ambulatory pump 100 also includes a pair of arc cams (a first arccam 114 a on one side of the receptacle is illustrated FIG. 1, with thesecond hidden from view) for engaging the elongate sections 112 a, b ofthe free flow prevention clamp in order to lift the clamping section 112c. Additionally, the ambulatory pump 100 includes a pair of wedge cams(a first wedge cam 116 a on one side of the receptacle 104 isillustrated FIG. 1, with the second hidden from view) for transitioningthe free flow prevention clamp 110 from an open, manufactured/shippedstate to an operational state, which is described in further detailbelow.

The cassette 102 also includes a first cutout 118 a in a sidewall of thecassette 102 and a second cutout 118 b in an opposite sidewall of thecassette 102. Additionally, the cassette 102 includes a touch pad 120positioned on the first elongate section 112 a adjacent a mid-point ofthe first elongate section 112 a and the first cutout 118 a. The touchpad 120 and cutout 118 a facilitates engagement of the first elongatesection 112 a by a finger of an operator in order to manually lift theclamping section 112 c to allow fluid flow through the tube 108 (e.g.,for priming the cassette 102) when the cassette 102 is not receivedwithin the receptacle 104 of the ambulatory pump 100. The touch pad 120may be a press fit piece of rigid plastic. Although the touch pad 120 isillustrated as only on the first elongate section 112 a, a touch pad mayalso be provided on the second elongate section 112 b.

FIG. 3 depicts the arc cams 114 and peristaltic pump 106 of theambulatory pump 100. The peristaltic pump 106 includes multiple pumpfingers 300 (six pump fingers 300 a-f illustrated in FIG. 3). A flexiblebarrier 302 separates the pump fingers 300 (and other pump components ofa pumping mechanism) from the receptacle area 104 receiving the cassette102 with the tube 108. The flexible barrier 302 provides a barrierbetween the fluid delivery apparatus/cassette and the pumping mechanismto prevent fluid from damaging components of the pumping mechanism.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are cutaway views of the ambulatory pump 100. Multiplecams 302 (six cams 302 a-f) supported by a cam shaft 304 act onrespective pump fingers 300. The cams 302 raise and lower the pumpfingers 300, which engage the tube 108 of the cassette 102 in order toforce fluid though the tube 108. A motor 306 under control of acontroller 310 turns the cam shaft 304 by way of a gearbox 308. As thecam shaft 304 turns, the cams 302, which are offset from each other inan axial direction, raise and lower respective pump fingers 300. Forexample, cam 302 a raises and lowers pump finger 300 a. Controller 310may be an standalone or embedded processor configured to carry outinstructions in order to control operations of the ambulatory pump 100.

FIG. 6 depicts the cam shaft 304 with cams 302 offset from one anotheralong the length of the cam shaft 304. FIG. 7 schematically illustratesthe offset cams 302 positioned on the cam shaft 304. Each of theillustrated cams 304 are circular in shape. The center of each cam 302is offset with respect to the cam shaft 304 extending through the cams.In an example, each cam 302 is eight (8) millimeters in diameter and thecam shaft 304 passes through each cam 302 at a point that is 2.5millimeters from one edge and 5.5 millimeters from the opposite edgealong a line bisecting the cam 302. Rotation of a cam 302 about the camshaft 304 will raise and lower a respective pump finger 304 three (3)millimeters. In the illustrated example, the six cam 302 a-f areuniformly distributed around the cam shaft 304 in a direction extendingthrough a longitudinal axis of the cam shaft 304.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the peristaltic pump 106 within the ambulatoryinfusion pump 100 with the pump fingers 300 of the ambulatory infusionpump 100 in an occluded region of a fluid delivery cycle with respect toa fluid deliver direction 800 through the tube 108. As seen in FIG. 8,pump fingers 300 e and 300 f are raised, effectively preventing anyfurther ability for the peristaltic pump 106 to force fluid through thetube 108 toward the patient. This is referred to herein as an occlusionregion

FIG. 9 is a side view of the peristaltic pump 106 within the ambulatoryinfusion pump 100 with the pump fingers 300 of the ambulatory infusionpump 100 in a pumping region of a fluid delivery cycle with respect to afluid deliver direction 800 through the tube 108. As seen in FIG. 9,pump finger 300 d, e, and f are lowered, effectively allowing fingers300 b, c of the peristaltic pump 106 to force fluid through the tube 108toward the patient. This is referred to herein as a pumping region.

FIG. 10 is a graph depicting an amount of fluid dispensed 1002 versuscam shaft position 1004 for the ambulatory pump 100 of FIG. 1. Asdepicted, between a cam shaft position 1004 of 0 degrees and 200degrees, the peristaltic pump 106 is in a pumping region 1006. Duringthe remaining 160 degrees of a full rotation, the peristaltic pump 106is in an occlusion region. FIG. 10 depicts a relatively uniform fluiddelivery profile in the pumping region 1006 and a relatively flat fluiddelivery profile (indicating no/low fluid flow) during the occlusionregion 1008. The fluid delivery profiles are for a cam rotation in 1degree increments (dashed line) and 5 degree increments (solid line).

FIG. 11 is a flow chart depicting a startup routine for use with theambulatory pump of FIG. 1. The steps are described with reference tohardware described herein but are not to be limited to suchimplementations. One of skill in the art will understand from thedescription herein that one or more steps/blocks may be omitted, and oneor more additional/alternative steps may be incorporated.

At block 1102, prime the fluid delivery tube 1102 to make it ready todeliver fluid to the patient. In an example, the peristaltic pump 106 isused to prime the fluid delivery tube 108 by pumping fluid through thetube 108 until it beings to flow at a patient end of the tube. Inanother example, the fluid delivery tube 108 is manually (i.e., gravity)primed.

At block 1104, position pump finger in an occlusion region. Theperistaltic pump 106 may be positioned by a controller 310 in anocclusion region 1008 such as depicted in FIG. 10. In an example, thepump fingers 300 of the peristaltic pump 106 are positioned at thebeginning of the occlusion region (e.g., at a cam shaft position of 200degree; see FIGS. 8 and 10).

At block 1106, rotate the cam shaft at a startup rate to transition fromthe occlusion region to the beginning of the pumping region. Acontroller 310 causes the cam shaft 306 to rotate at a relatively rapidrate (e.g., 1.5 times the patient fluid delivery rate). The cam shaft306 of the peristaltic pump 106 is rotated until it transitions to thepumping 1006 such as depicted in FIG. 10. In an example, the cam shaftis rotated at the startup rate until the pump fingers 300 of theperistaltic pump 106 are positioned at the beginning of the pumpingregion (e.g., at a cam shaft position of 0 degree; see FIGS. 9 and 10).

At block 1108, rotate the cam shaft at a patient fluid delivery rate inthe pumping region 1006 during a patient fluid delivery therapy. Acontroller 310 causes the cam shaft 306 to rotate at the patient fluiddelivery rate during the patient fluid delivery therapy.

At block 1110, rotate the cam shaft at the patient fluid delivery ratein the occlusion region 1008 during the patient fluid delivery therapy.In an example, a controller 310 causes the cam shaft 306 to rotate atthe same rate during the occlusion region 1008 as during the pumpingregion 1006 for the remainder of the patient fluid delivery therapy.

Peristaltic pumps create flow by occluding a tube or other flexiblemembrane to create flow. Without being limited to a particular theory,the inventors discovered that there is some wasted motion due to theocclusion interface where no fluid is trapped behind the occlusion ofthe tube. The occlusion forms distinct areas in the fluid deliveryprofile where no fluid is delivered. There is distinct regions of fluiddelivery and regions where the pump is no longer delivering fluid for agiven pump rotation. For continuous pump cam shaft rotation, it createspauses in the fluid movement in the tube.

This limitation of the peristaltic mechanism is used advantageously inlow flow control using the methods and pumps described herein. Low flowcontrol of the infusion pump (0.1 ml/hr to 1 ml/hr) becomes difficultdue to many outside factors. One characteristic of infusion pumps is thetime for an infusion to start. At low flow rates the startup time isincreased due to smaller pressures generated due to slow speeds of thepump camshaft. The methods and pumps described herein compensate for thecompliance of the downstream tubing. The infusion pump essentiallyinflates the downstream tubing with volume to overcome the compliance ofthe tubing and create a pressure gradient to deliver fluid to thepatient. At low flow rates, the pump is limited by the rate it canincrease the pressure in the tubing due to the slow cam shaft speeds.

Intuitively, it would make sense to begin the low flow infusion at thebeginning of the pumping region of the peristaltic mechanism. The issuewith this, however, is that it exposes the largest region of complainttubing. Due to the increased compliance, there is more volume needed toinflate the tubing to create flow. This increased volume leads toincreased start up time which is un-desirable clinically.

The methods and pumps described herein compensates for this start updelay by starting during the beginning of the occlusion region of theperistaltic mechanism. This helps limit the compliance of the downstreamtubing. Using this compensation allows the infusion to almost start upinstantly if the line has been primed correctly. Without this method, itcan delay infusions from 15 min to over an hour at low flow rates of 0.1mL/hr.

FIGS. 12 and 13 are functional block diagrams illustratinggeneral-purpose computer hardware platforms configured to implement thefunctional examples described with respect to FIGS. 1-11 as discussedabove.

Specifically, FIG. 12 illustrates an example computer platform 1200 andFIG. 13 depicts an example computer 1300 with user interface elements,as may be used to implement in a personal computer, pump 100, or othertype of work station or terminal device. It is believed that thoseskilled in the art are familiar with the structure, programming andgeneral operation of such computer equipment and as a result thedrawings should be self-explanatory.

Hardware of an example computer (FIG. 12) includes a data communicationinterface for packet data communication. The server computer alsoincludes a central processing unit (CPU) 1202, in the form of circuitryforming one or more processors, for executing program instructions. Theserver platform hardware typically includes an internal communicationbus 1206, program and/or data storage 1216, 1218, and 1220 for variousprograms and data files to be processed and/or communicated by theserver computer, although the server computer often receives programmingand data via network communications. In one example, as shown in FIG.12, the computer system includes a video display unit 1210, (e.g., aliquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), analphanumeric input device 1212 (e.g. a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 1214 (e.g. a mouse), each of which communicate via aninput/output device (I/O) 1208. The hardware elements, operating systemsand programming languages of such server computers are conventional innature, and it is presumed that those skilled in the art are adequatelyfamiliar therewith. Of course, the server functions may be implementedin a distributed fashion on a number of similar hardware platforms, todistribute the processing load.

Hardware of a computer type user terminal device, such as a PC or tabletcomputer, similarly includes a data communication interface 1304, CPU1302, main memory 1316 and 1318, one or more mass storage devices 1320for storing user data and the various executable programs, an internalcommunication bus 1306, and an input/output device (I/O) 1308 (see FIG.13).

Aspects of the methods for pump control, as outlined above, may beembodied in programming in general purpose computer hardware platforms(such as described above with respect to FIGS. 12 and 13), e.g. in theform of software, firmware, or microcode executable by a networkedcomputer system such as a server or gateway, and/or a programmable nodaldevice. Program aspects of the technology may be thought of as“products” or “articles of manufacture” typically in the form ofexecutable code and/or associated data that is carried on or embodied ina type of machine readable medium. “Storage” type media include any orall of the tangible memory of the computers, processors or the like, orassociated modules thereof, such as various semiconductor memories, tapedrives, disk drives and the like, which may provide non-transitorystorage at any time for the software programming. All or portions of thesoftware may at times be communicated through the Internet or variousother telecommunication networks. Such communications, for example, mayenable loading of the software, from one computer or processor intoanother, for example, from a processor 108 of the system 100 and/or froma controller 310 of a pump 100 to a computer or software of anothersystem (not shown). Thus, another type of media that may bear thesoftware elements includes optical, electrical and electromagneticwaves, such as used across physical interfaces between local devices,through wired and optical landline networks and over various air-links.The physical elements that carry such waves, such as wired or wirelesslinks, optical links or the like, also may be considered as mediabearing the software. As used herein, unless restricted to one or moreof “non-transitory,” “tangible” or “storage” media, terms such ascomputer or machine “readable medium” refer to any medium thatparticipates in providing instructions to a processor for execution.

Hence, a machine-readable medium may take many forms, including but notlimited to, a tangible storage medium, a carrier wave medium or physicaltransmission medium. Non-transitory storage media include, for example,optical or magnetic disks, such as any of the storage devices in anycomputer(s) or the like. It may also include storage media such asdynamic memory, for example, the main memory of a machine or computerplatform. Tangible transmission media include coaxial cables; copperwire and fiber optics, including the wires that include a bus within acomputer system. Carrier-wave transmission media can take the form ofelectric or electromagnetic signals, or acoustic or light waves such asthose generated during radio frequency (RF) and light-based datacommunications. Common forms of computer-readable media thereforeinclude for example: a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetictape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD or DVD-ROM, any otheroptical medium, punch cards paper tape, any other physical storagemedium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM,any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave transporting data orinstructions, cables or links transporting such a carrier wave, or anyother medium from which a computer can read programming code and/ordata. Many of these forms of computer readable media may be involved incarrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to aprocessor for execution.

Program instructions may include a software or firmware implementationencoded in any desired language. Programming instructions, when embodiedin machine readable medium accessible to a processor of a computersystem or device, render computer system or device into aspecial-purpose machine that is customized to perform the operationsspecified in the program performed by the controller 310 of the pump100.

While the foregoing has described what are considered to be the bestmode and/or other examples, it is understood that various modificationsmay be made therein and that the subject matter disclosed herein may beimplemented in various forms and examples, and that the teachings may beapplied in numerous applications, only some of which have been describedherein. It is intended by the following claims to claim any and allapplications, modifications and variations that fall within the truescope of the present teachings.

Unless otherwise stated, all measurements, values, ratings, positions,magnitudes, sizes, and other specifications that are set forth in thisspecification, including in the claims that follow, are approximate, notexact. They are intended to have a reasonable range that is consistentwith the functions to which they relate and with what is ordinary in theart to which they pertain.

The scope of protection is limited solely by the claims that now follow.That scope is intended and should be interpreted to be as broad as isconsistent with the ordinary meaning of the language that is used in theclaims when interpreted in light of this specification and theprosecution history that follows and to encompass all structural andfunctional equivalents. Notwithstanding, none of the claims are intendedto embrace subject matter that fails to satisfy the requirement ofSections 101, 102, or 105 of the Patent Act, nor should they beinterpreted in such a way. Any unintended embracement of such subjectmatter is hereby disclaimed.

Except as stated immediately above, nothing that has been stated orillustrated is intended or should be interpreted to cause a dedicationof any component, step, feature, object, benefit, advantage, orequivalent to the public, regardless of whether it is or is not recitedin the claims.

It will be understood that the terms and expressions used herein havethe ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions withrespect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and studyexcept where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.Relational terms such as first and second and the like may be usedsolely to distinguish one entity or action from another withoutnecessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or orderbetween such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,”“includes,” “including,” or any other variation thereof, are intended tocover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article,or apparatus that includes a list of elements does not include onlythose elements but may include other elements not expressly listed orinherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An elementpreceded by “a” or “an” does not, without further constraints, precludethe existence of additional identical elements in the process, method,article, or apparatus that includes the element.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader toquickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It issubmitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpretor limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in theforegoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features aregrouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than allfeatures of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claimsare hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.

In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen thatvarious features are grouped together in various examples for thepurpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is notto be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed examplesrequire more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather,as the following claims reflect, the subject matter to be protected liesin less than all features of any single disclosed example. Thus, thefollowing claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description,with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subjectmatter.

While the foregoing describes what is considered to be the best mode andother examples, it is understood that various modifications may be madeand that the subject matter disclosed herein may be implemented invarious forms and examples, and that they may be applied in numerousapplications, only some of which have been described herein. It isintended by the following claims to claim any and all modifications andvariations that fall within the true scope of the present concepts.

What is claimed is:
 1. A peristaltic infusion pump, the peristalticinfusion pump comprising: a cam shaft having a plurality of cams offsetfrom one another in an axial direction; a plurality of pump fingersconfigured to engage a tube received by the peristaltic infusion pump,each pump finger coupled to a respective one of the plurality of cams,the plurality of pump fingers creating a pumping region and an occlusionregion within the received tube; a motor coupled to the cam shaft, themotor configured to rotate the cam shaft; a memory, a controller coupledto the memory and the motor; and cam rotation instructions in thememory, wherein the controller is configured to receive the cam rotationinstructions from the memory and execute the received cam rotationinstructions and wherein execution of the cam rotation instructions bythe controller configures the peristaltic infusion pump to: position theplurality of pump fingers in the occlusion region of a fluid deliverycycle of the peristaltic infusion pump prior to a beginning of aninfusion therapy to deliver fluid to a patient through the tube at apatient fluid delivery rate, the occlusion region of the fluid deliverycycle preventing the peristaltic infusion pump from forcing fluidthrough the tube toward the patient; rotate the cam shaft to transitionthe plurality of pump fingers from the occlusion region to the pumpingregion prior to the beginning of the infusion therapy at a startup ratethat is faster than the patient fluid delivery rate, the pumping regionenabling the peristaltic infusion pump to force fluid through the tubetoward the patient; and rotate the cam shaft at the patient fluiddelivery rate in the pumping region during the infusion therapy.
 2. Theperistaltic infusion pump of claim 1, wherein the execution of the camrotation instructions by the controller further configures theperistaltic infusion pump to: prime the tube before positioning theplurality of pump fingers in the occlusion region prior to beginning theinfusion therapy to deliver the fluid to the patient.
 3. The peristalticinfusion pump of claim 1, wherein the execution of the cam rotationinstructions by the controller further configures the peristalticinfusion pump to: rotate the cam shaft at the patient fluid deliveryrate in the occlusion region after rotating the cam shaft at the patientfluid delivery rate in the pumping region.
 4. The peristaltic infusionpump of claim 1, wherein the cam rotation instructions to position theplurality of pump fingers in the occlusion region prior to beginning theinfusion therapy position the plurality of pump fingers at a beginningof the occlusion region.
 5. The peristaltic infusion pump of claim 4,wherein the cam rotation instructions to rotate the cam shaft totransition the plurality of pump fingers from the occlusion region tothe pumping region rotate the cam shaft 160 degrees at the startup rate.6. The peristaltic infusion pump of claim 5, wherein the patient fluiddelivery rate is from 0.1 milliliters per hour to 1 milliliter per hour.7. The peristaltic infusion pump of claim 6, wherein the cam shaft isrotated in one degree increments.
 8. A method for delivering fluidthrough a tube with a peristaltic infusion pump, the peristalticinfusion pump including a plurality of pump fingers configured to engagethe tube and positioned on a cam shaft, the method comprising:positioning the plurality of pump fingers in an occlusion region of afluid delivery cycle of the peristaltic infusion pump prior to abeginning of an infusion therapy to deliver fluid to a patient throughthe tube at a patient fluid delivery rate, the occlusion region of thefluid delivery cycle preventing the peristaltic infusion pump fromforcing fluid through the tube toward the patient; rotating the camshaft to transition the plurality of pump fingers from the occlusionregion to a pumping region prior to the beginning of the infusiontherapy at a startup rate that is faster than the patient fluid deliveryrate, the pumping region enabling the peristaltic infusion pump to forcefluid through the tube toward the patient; and rotating the cam shaft atthe patient fluid delivery rate in the pumping region during theinfusion therapy.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: primingthe tube before positioning the plurality of pump fingers in theocclusion region prior to beginning the infusion therapy to deliver thefluid to the patient.
 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:rotating the cam shaft at the patient fluid delivery rate in theocclusion region after rotating the cam shaft at the patient fluiddelivery rate in the pumping region.
 11. The method of claim 8, whereinthe positioning the plurality of pump fingers in the occlusion regionprior to beginning the infusion therapy comprises positioning theplurality of pump fingers at a beginning of the occlusion region. 12.The method of claim 11, wherein the rotating the cam shaft to transitionthe plurality of pump fingers from the occlusion region to the pumpingregion comprises rotating the cam shaft 160 degrees at the startup rate.13. The method of claim 12, wherein the patient fluid delivery rate isfrom 0.1 milliliters per hour to 1 milliliter per hour.
 14. The methodof claim 13, wherein the rotating the cam shaft at the patient fluiddelivery rate comprises rotating the cam shaft in one degree increments.15. A non-transitory controller-readable storage medium storingcontroller-executable instructions that, when executed by a controllerof a peristaltic infusion pump including a plurality of pump fingersconfigured to engage a tube and positioned on a cam shaft, cause theperistaltic infusion pump to perform operations comprising: positioningthe plurality of pump fingers in an occlusion region of a fluid deliverycycle of the peristaltic infusion pump prior to a beginning of aninfusion therapy to deliver fluid to a patient through the tube at apatient fluid delivery rate, the occlusion region of the fluid deliverycycle preventing the peristaltic infusion pump from forcing fluidthrough the tube toward the patient; rotating the cam shaft totransition the plurality of pump fingers from the occlusion region to apumping region prior to the beginning of the infusion therapy at astartup rate that is faster than the patient fluid delivery rate, thepumping region enabling the peristaltic infusion pump to force fluidthrough the tube toward the patient; and rotating the cam shaft at thepatient fluid delivery rate in the pumping region during the infusiontherapy.
 16. The non-transitory controller-readable storage medium ofclaim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the peristalticinfusion pump to perform operations comprising: priming the tube beforepositioning the plurality of pump fingers in the occlusion region priorto beginning the infusion therapy to deliver the fluid to the patient.17. The non-transitory controller-readable storage medium of claim 15,wherein the instructions further cause the peristaltic infusion pump toperform operations comprising: rotating the cam shaft at the patientfluid delivery rate in the occlusion region after rotating the cam shaftat the patient fluid delivery rate in the pumping region.
 18. Thenon-transitory controller-readable storage medium of claim 15, whereinthe positioning the plurality of pump fingers in the occlusion regionprior to beginning the infusion therapy comprises positioning theplurality of pump fingers at a beginning of the occlusion region. 19.The non-transitory controller-readable storage medium of claim 18,wherein the rotating the cam shaft to transition the plurality of pumpfingers from the occlusion region to the pumping region comprisesrotating the cam shaft 160 degrees at the startup rate.
 20. Thenon-transitory controller-readable storage medium of claim 19, whereinthe patient fluid delivery rate is from 0.1 milliliters per hour to 1milliliter per hour.